Chapter 31 Chapter 4 Anti-Nine Routes Siege in Southeast Shanxi: A Victorious Practice in the National War of Resistance

In February 1938, the Japanese army marched southward from Taiyuan along both sides of Tongpu Road, and the frontal battlefield was on the verge of disintegration. The Central Army, the Local Army, the 129th Division, the 115th Division and the 344th Brigade of the Eighth Route Army scattered in this area, and the 1st and 3rd columns of the death squad were designated as the East Route Army in the World War II zone, and Zhu De and Peng Dehuai were appointed as the general and deputy commanders. On March 1, Peng Dehuai rushed back from the front line of Gaoping to the headquarters of the Eighth Route Army stationed in Nanshanjiao Town, Anze County. A single soldier from each army was not allowed to cross the Yellow River, and all stayed in Shanxi to fight guerrillas.But the Kuomintang generals had never fought a battle without a rear, and they were even more mysterious and terrified of mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare, hoping to get help from the Eighth Route Army.

A week ago, Mao Zedong and Ren Bishi had called Zhu De and Peng Dehuai, asking the Eighth Route Army to urge nearly a million friendly troops to "absolutely not cross the river." . In order to encourage and help the friendly army to persist in Shanxi, from March 24th to 28th, Zhu De and Peng Dehuai held a meeting of generals of the East Route Army in Xiaodongling, south of Qin County.KMT generals Li Jiayu (Commander of the 47th Army), Li Moan (Commander of the 14th Army), Zeng Wanzhong (Commander of the 3rd Army), Zhu Huaibing (Commander of the 94th Division), Wu Shimin (Commander of the 169th Division), Zhao Shoushan (Commander of the 169th Division) 17 Division Commander), Eighth Route Army generals Liu Bocheng, Zhang Hao, Xu Haidong, Li Da, Wang Xinting, and Bo Yibo of the Death Squad, 38 people came from various places for the meeting.Representatives of Yan Xishan and Wei Lihuang, and Chiang Kai-shek's liaison staff also rushed to the clubhouse.

The second cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party is in the golden age. People who fought against each other on the battlefield in the past are gathered together today to discuss strategies to defend against the enemy. On the 24th, the meeting was held in Guandi Temple in Xiaodongling Village.In his opening speech, Zhu De analyzed the situation of the War of Resistance in detail, and called on the generals of the Eastern Route Army to work together to establish anti-Japanese base areas behind enemy lines, carry out guerrilla warfare, and insist on North China. Peng Dehuai made a report on the combat program of the Eastern Route Army at the meeting.

After analyzing the situation of both the enemy and ourselves in detail, Peng Dehuai asked everyone to accept the painful lessons of the fall of Nanjing and Taiyuan and adopt new operational principles: implement strategic defensive warfare, tactical offensive warfare; strategic protracted warfare and war of attrition, Tactical quick-decision warfare and annihilation warfare; use mobile warfare to wipe out the enemy's vital forces, and develop guerrilla warfare to create opportunities for our basic army to wipe out a large number of enemies in motion. In his report, Peng Dehuai explained in detail the tactics of mobile warfare and guerrilla warfare, the political work of the troops, the work of the people, the work of the enemy army, and the requirements for establishing base areas to friendly troops, and at the same time raised his hopes for the generals.

Aiming at the feudal control of general Kuomintang generals, Peng Dehuai advised them: To understand, consolidate and unite the troops, we must start with the implementation of reasonable control, conscious discipline, prohibiting beating and scolding, and working hard with the soldiers.It is necessary to explain, persuade, persuade, move, and set an example to control the subordinates, and avoid intimidation, beatings, deceit, and unreasonable obedience. Soldiers must know why they must observe discipline and consciously observe discipline. In response to the Kuomintang generals' admiration for the Eighth Route Army officers and soldiers and the unity of the army and the people, Peng Dehuai said: "Soldiers and officers must be in the same boat, especially the living distance between officers and soldiers should be as small as possible... Sharing hardships with soldiers is one of the important conditions for uniting troops. "There are several basic things in dealing with the people, that is, to practice fairness in buying and selling, to speak kindly, to return borrowed things, to compensate for damages, and to implement disciplinary inspections when leaving the station. With goodwill and help, the military and civilians can slowly unite as one."

Peng Dehuai's report moved the generals present, especially Wu Shimin, the commander of the 169th Division who followed Sun Yat-sen in his early years and actively supported Zhang (Xueliang) and Yang (Hucheng) during the Xi'an Incident.He actively resisted the Japanese, but the old habits of the army were very heavy, and the relationship between the army and the people was not good, which made him very distressed.After dinner, Peng Dehuai went to visit everywhere, and Wu Shimin confided his heart and soul to Peng Dehuai, and had a long talk.Later, he said to others: "I have been a soldier for decades, and I really know how to serve the country. I didn't know it until I heard the teachings of Deputy Commander Peng at the Xiaodongling Conference. From then on, I knew how to be a soldier. A real soldier." Afterwards, Samurai Min learned from the experience of the Eighth Route Army, cooperated closely with the Eighth Route Army, and the troops changed.

After heated discussions at the Xiaodongling meeting, Peng Dehuai's combat program report was adopted, the areas for the activities of each army and division and the establishment of base areas were delineated, and the communication line with the rear was opened up in coordination.After the meeting, at the request of the friendly army, the Eighth Route Army headquarters hosted by Zuo Quan held guerrilla training courses and political work workshops for the friendly army.Zhu De, Peng Dehuai, and Zuo Quan all gave lectures to the training class in person. The Xiaodongling meeting was the largest high-level military meeting of the anti-Japanese national united front on the Shanxi battlefield, and it was also a meeting guided by the strategic thinking of the Communist Party of China.This meeting laid the foundation for smashing the Japanese army's 9-way siege of Southeast Shanxi in the future.